His Dark Materials: The Final Chapter
by JoeLewis
Summary: It has been four years since Will and Lyra last saw each other, but when someone continues what Metatron started they are forced together for the final time to save all of creation.
1. Chapter 1

St. Sophia's was a grand old building right in the centre of Oxford. It wasn't as beautiful as Jordan, but then again, to Lyra nothing except one thing could be. That one thing was Will. Whenever she thought of Will her heart ached with the memory of her long lost love. Just after she had arrived back at Jordan after her adventures she had wondered whether an hour of her day could go by without her thinking of that wonderful boy from another universe. This had proven to be true.

It could come any time of the day, in class, at lunchtime, the moment she woke up, anytime. All it took was a little thing, like seeing a cat like Kirjava in the street, and she would feel a pain in her chest, like when she left Pantalaimon on the shore of the world of the dead.

Now, as Lyra and her daemon were strolling slowly through the city to the Botanic Garden, Lyra felt a pang of pain and knew that Pantalaimon was feeling it too. It was midsummer's day, the day that Lyra and Will sat on the same bench, but in separate universes. Pantalaimon seemed smaller today, and Lyra was feeling down. With a heavy heart, she dragged the key to the garden from her coat pocket and put it into the key hole of the gate to the Botanic Garden. The gate clanged open and Lyra walked through, the first tear carving a river down her face.

The Botanic Garden was in full bloom. The flowers were bright, vibrant colours - red, blue, purple, orange, colours and tones of every colour. The lawn was perfectly mown, not an unequal blade in sight. And in the background of all this, the lulling, gentle notes of a bubbling brook.

But Lyra couldn't feel happy. How would Will feel if he was here? It had been four years since they had last met. He could have changed a lot, or even got a girlfriend. The bench sat next to the path and Lyra sat down. A shiver ran down her back, the same as every year. With her limited knowledge of Alethiometry, Lyra had found that the shivers meant that Will was sitting in the same place at the same time, just a different universe. Lyra sat there, with Pantalaimon on her shoulder, thinking about Will and how he was now and what he was like. Will would be seventeen now, not a child anymore. Pantalaimon was letting out little cries of regret, reflecting on Lyra's fragile emotional state. Then the two of them burst into sobs. Pantalaimon nuzzled her chest and Lyra dug her face deep into his fur. The two of them sat like that for a few minutes until they calmed down a little.

"Oh, Will. I miss you so much," Lyra whimpered.

"Lyra." Pantalaimon whispered. "Now I have to tell you what happened to me and Kirjava when we were away. The time is right."

"Tell me, Pan, what is it?" Lyra said in barely more than a whisper.

"Me and Kirjava travelled between the worlds, we saw such beautiful things. But only one thing was important. One night, under a meteor shower, an angel fell from the sky. He was injured but nothing could be done for him. He said that he was a friend, and how honoured he was to meet us. But he told us a terrible thing: Metatron had a secret weapon. It was an angel who had found a way of possessing a human body. This angel, Kiridar, is immensely powerful. She has the wings of an angel and the strength of twenty men. She can also be slightly hypnotic when she wills it. Kiridar was to step up and spearhead the campaign against the Republic.

"But the angel told us not to tell you until every window was closed, because you would try to stop Kiridar, and that is too big a task even for you."

And Pantalaimon finished.

Lyra felt his words almost as a physical blow. So all of their efforts had been for nothing. All the people who had died, Lee, Mrs Coulter, Lord Asriel, Chevalier Tialys, Lady Salmakia, had been killed for nothing. But there was one good thing. If Kiridar was going to start the war again there was a chance that Will would get involved too.

Will was very shaken after Kirjava explained what Pantalaimon had just told Lyra. He knew that Kiridar could put everything he and Mary and his mother had built. For the last few years, Mary had been preaching the ideals that created more Dust -kindness, care, love - to the world. She had got a lot of fame and money for her work, but she refused to use the money for herself, instead donating to all sorts of charities - environmental, children's, cancer, poverty - in order to make more Dust.

Will's mother had also vastly improved, with a lot of help from charities and the government. Now she was nearer to a normal mother, the one Will had always dreamed of. She would cook the dinner, clean the house, help Will with his homework, the things a mother should do.

The trouble that Mary and himself thought they would be in was simply forgotten. Nothing had ever come of it, even though Will had killed someone and Mary had faked her identity.

Now that Kiridar was continuing what Metatron began, his world would be plunged into chaos.

He and Kirjava hurried off to find Mary and tell her what had occurred.

Far away, in a universe completely devoid of life, the Clouded Mountain was preparing for war. Kiridar stood, relishing her glorious body of flesh, surveying her Kingdom. Hundreds of millions of angels were rallying to this point from all over Creation. But her soldiers were just a fraction of the men and women assembling all over Creation to recapture the glory and power of the Christian Church, the Magisterium and the endless other organisations who represented the Clouded Mountain.

With a smug smile Kiridar turned away from her forces and flew away deep into the night.


	2. Chapter 2

Lyra hurried back to Jordan, despair mixed with excitement and a little joy tugged at her heart. If Kiridar was carrying on Metatron's work, the Magisterium would soon be after her. She would have to be smuggled to the North to Svalbard, to Iorek, to Serafina Pekkala to avoid them. She couldn't wait! "Lyra! Why are you in such a hurry?" a familiar voice called from just behind her. It was the Master, coming home from some lecture in the city. He had just emerged from a cobbled alleyway and was in his usual black suit and was carrying a briefcase.

"Oh, Master, you ent going to believe it, but you know how me and Will stopped the Clouded Mountain from destroying the Republic, yeah? Well there's another angel who was told to carry on the war if Metatron died and the Magisterium are gonna be after me, so I need to get outta— "

"Slow down child and start from the beginning," said the Master calmly. "What's this about Metatron? And why would the Magisterium be after _you_?"

So Lyra explained what Pantalaimon had told her, hardly able to conceal her excitement. When she had finished the Master looked at her gravely.

"This is ill news indeed, child,' the Master said, the colour draining from his face as he spoke. "You are right though. You need to be far, far away from here before tomorrow morning. I will go and find some gyptians and have a message sent to John Faa explaining the situation. Now go back to the college and lock your bedroom door! Don't let anyone in! Not even Mrs Lonsdale! Go!"

With that Lyra, with Pantalaimon wrapped around her shoulders, scampered off up the road to Jordan College. When she reached her room she bolted her door and sat hunched over the alethiometer, pondering its meanings, trying to understand.

Twenty minutes later, the Magisterium arrived at Jordan College.

Will and Pantalaimon reached Mary's flat just in time. Three large, beefy men and one, bookish-looking old man sat on the sofa, the very sofa under which sat Mary's shotgun (only to be used in emergencies!). "Miss Malone, we know that you have knowledge of the whereabouts of the boy and girl. Make it easy for yourself and give us it!" commanded the old man.

"I don't know what you're talking about, how many times do I have to tell you?" Mary insisted.

Will and Kirjava appeared then, breathless from five flights of stairs; the lift was broken.

"Will! No!" Mary shrieked, her daemon, Ilia, flapping his wings in distress. "Go!"

But it was too late. The men had already drawn and loaded pistols.

Serafina Pekkala was concerned, not only for herself or her clan, but for all of creation. After the war was finished and all of the windows closed, things had returned to normal in the Arctic Circle – winds returned to normal, the ice caps refroze and everything was fine. But in the last few hours the wind had changed enormously and the ice was heating up under very feet.

Had Will destroyed the Subtle Knife like he had promised or had he kept it, in a desperate bid to see Lyra again? But Mary, her sister of another world would never let him, surely?

Regardless of what was happening, Serafina knew the signs: it was beginning again. And that was why she was now flying to Svalbard, in hope of seeing King Iorek Byrnison, to confer on these important matters. The last thing she expected to find on the glacier of the bears was angels so when she saw them, flying in vast numbers on a snow-flecked sky, she was wary. Could they be from the Clouded Mountain or were they Xaphania's lot? There was nothing for it – if she was to get to the bottom of the disturbances she would have to approach them and she was sure that she could hold her own if the worst came to the worst. "Angels!" Serafina cried, her voice nearly being snatched away by a flurry of snowy wind. "Stop!"

The angels stopped and as one turned to face her. "You will come with us, witch," The angels said, speaking as one. "She desires it."

"Who desires my presence? Who are you working for? Why should I go with you?" Serafina asked, beginning to feel apprehensive; perhaps this was a mistake.

"She is coming," The angels chanted, parting in two, making a passageway that ran out of sight. "She is coming, she is coming, she is coming."

Slowly but surely a pinprick of light came into focus in the passageway.

"She is coming. She is coming. She is coming…"

The pinprick of light came closer and Serafina could just about make out the shape of an angel.

"She is coming. She is coming. She is coming…"

The angel looked huge now, but there was something odd, something not right…

"She is coming. She is coming. She is coming…"

It had a body! The angel had a body! How was that possible?

By now it had reached Serafina.

"Mortal," it boomed. "You will come with me. Now!"

Serafina found herself obeying. Just looking into those black eyes made her lose all control over herself. "I will come," Serafina confirmed, speaking like a sleepwalker and flying in the same manner. So with that Serafina flew off with the regiment of angels, flying towards the Clouded Mountain and imprisonment.


End file.
